Traffic signal



Jan. 5 1926.

W. A. LEE

TRAFFIC SIGNAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed August 8 1921 W. A. LEE

TfiAFFIc SIGNAL Filed August a, 192 1 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 William firmly-Lee.

INVENTOR Jan. 5 1926. 1,568,407 w. A. LEE

TRAFFIC SIGNAL Filed Augus a, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 William/7am ee 0 INVENTOR Patented Jan. 5 1926.

. UNITED STATES WILLIAM imwn LEE, or W'ICHITA, KANSAS;

TRAFFIC SIGNAL.

Application flled'Aug'ust 8, 1921. SeriafNo. 490,652.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, WILLIAM ARTHUR Luna citizen of theiUnited States, residing atWichita, in the county of Sedgwick. and- State. of Kansas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trafiic Signals, of which the followingvis a specification".

This invention rel-atesto a traflic signal particularly designedmforuse upon motor vehicles andvanobject of the invention is to. providea trafiic signal. that may. be mounted.

onuany vehicle and: give a distinct signal 'fromoneside of the vehicleias to the direction it is. about to take which-signal can be distinguished night or day and under all weather conditions.

Anotherobject of this invention is to provide a signal as specified. which may be used.

upon closed cars, one with which-the-use of side curtains will not in any wayinterfere,

asrwell as one which isoperatedsby a relatively small lever. located in close proximity to. steering wheel oft-he vehicle and- Which requires little effort to operate, and:

one which latches itselst in adjusted position and remains there until it is changed by the operator.

Another object of the invention is to provide-a signal asspecifiedwhich includes a movable. semaphore arm. carrying visible signalsin the form of a plurality of lights to clearly indicatethe direction to be taken by. the vehicle and which signal. mechanism further embodiesa structure for automatically cutting off the energizing or exciting of. the lamps or lights when. the semaphore arnris movedor dropped into neutral position.. I

It. has been. determined by observation that. drivers of closed motor vehicles or motor vehicleswith. side curtains in place seldom givea signal whenturning and it is a well known fact that especially during rainy weather'or cold or damp weather that signals. aremoreinecessary than at any other time owing to the danger of skidding and it is an object of this invention to provide a signal mechanism which may be conveniently operated from the interior of the car eliminating the necessity of the driver of extending his arm out of the car during cold or rainy weather.

Other objects oftheinvention will appear in the following detailed description. and. in

theiaceompanying. ,drawings wherein:

Fig.- l is a side elevation of theim rov d trailic signal. 8

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan ofthe traific signal.

I 1* 1g.. is isa fragmentary edge elevation of the semaphore arm.

Fig. 4 is "a fragmentary View, partly in section and: partly in side elevation, showing the operating lever.

Figs 5 IS a section on theiline of Fig. 3.

-*6 is a section on the line 6-6-of Fig. 1.

Fig. Fig. 1. I Fig. 8 is a plan of a bracket used in attach ng the signal to a closed car. Fig. 9 1s a side elevation of the bracket illustrated in Fig. 8.

Referring more particularly to the drawing the improved traflic signal includes a" semaphore arm 1 which comprises a tube 2 which has a head 3 mounted upon its outer end and an elbow member 4 upon its innerend. The head 3 is constructed'of suitable sheet metal and its sides 5 and 6 are perforated providing suitable openings arranged m pairs one directly opposite the other as clearly shown in Fig. 7 of the drawmg through which openingslenses protrude. The lenses 7 which protrude "through the openings inthe sides 5 and 6 nearest the lnner end of the head 3 are larger than the lenses 8, so as to provide a diminishing stream: of light outwardly from the pivot of the semaphore arm to indicate the direction 111 which the arm is pointing. The gaskets 9 are placed Within the head 3,the lenses? engaging against these gaskets being secured 1n place in any suitable manner; Incandescent electric lamp bulbs -10 and 11 are positioned between each pair of lenses 7 and 8 to illuminate the lenses and render the head 8 clearly visible. The bulbs 10 and 11 are carried by a double socket structure 12 which is similar to the construction of sockets used in motor vehicle constructions differing only in that it is double so as to permit the supporting of the bulbs 10 and 11 at its opposite ends and also to permit synchronous exciting of the bulbs 10 and 11.

The current is supplied to the socket structure 12 through the usual central core 13 intowhich a binding screwi'l l is threaded;

intermediate. the endsof the socketand to 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of which binding screw the electric current conducting wire 15 is connected. The outer shell 16 of the socket structure if? is grounded in the usual manner. The wire 15 extends longitudinally through the tube 1 and has its end, remote from the binding screw 14, attached, in any suitable manner as at 17, to the stem 18 of a cap member 19. The cap member 19 is slidably supported within a cylinder 20 formed of electrical conducting material which cylinder i' 'u turn slidably supported by an insulating: sleeve 21 through which the stem 18 extends and to which said stem is connected. A spiral spring 22 is positioned within the contact sleeve 20 and extends into the cap 15? for urging the sleeve 20 outwardly, the outward movementof the sleeve being limited by the inturned flange 23 on its inner end. The insulating sleeve Ll extends into a me al sleeve 24- whicl'i is held a inst movein by means or a suitable screw The con tact sleeve 20 is urged by the spring 22 i engagement with the pcrin'ieter ot the cucuit maker and breaker struc e :20 which is mounted upon the shatt The shalt 27 is in turn carried by the bracket body 28, which is supported from the vehicle body preferably from the wiiul-shield structure part of which is indicated at A, by means of a clamping bracket structure 29. The clamping bracket structure 29 comprises jaws 30 which are clamped to the wiudshield A by any suitable means as indicated at 31. The circuit maker and breaker structure comprises a sleeve 82 of suitable insulating material which has a metal band 3 mounted upon its perimeter. The band il -l extends about substantially two-thirds ot the perimeter of the insulatii'ig sleeve the strip 34 of metal is attached to the s 32 and extends over the major portion oi the perimeter of the sleeve, which is not euclosed by the band 3 however, spaces, as shown at 35, are left between the facing ends of the band 33 and strip so that the strip 3st will be insulated from the banal 23 The band 33 has an ear 3. thereon to which an electrical conducting wire 38 is connected by means of a suitable binding screw The elbow l has its arm l0 mounted upon the stub shaft 27 and an ex usion ii formed on the arm ll) to increase the bearing surface of the arm with the shaft A suitable insulating sleeve mounted about the extension ll and extends into the insulating sleeve as clearly shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing. The elbow at has an illll'l slformed thereon to which a link l5 con nected. The link a5 is connected to a wire or flexible rod 46 which projects through the flexible shaft structure 7. The flexible shaft 47 is connected to the bracket by means of a socket 4:9 as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, audit is also connected to a quadrant 50 which is clamped to the steering post 13 of a vehicle by means of a clamp structure 51. The wire l6, which extends through the flexible shaft structure 47, is connected, as shown at 5 -3, to a lever 54 pivotally carried by the quadrant 50 so that when the lever is operated the semaphore arm 1 will be moved upon the shaft 27 a pivot to indicate the direction about to be taken by the vehicle upon which the improved traffic signal is mounted. A dog 56 is pivotally -arried by the lever 54- and has a rod 57 connected thereto which extends centrally through the handle 58 having a head 59 thereon which mounted in a sleeve 60. A spiral spring 61 is mounted in the sleeve and engages the head 59 for urging the head upwardly and consequently urging the dog into engagement with one of the notches 62 in the quadrant 50. A button head projects through the end of the handle to permitcompressing oi the spring 61 for rocking the dog 56 to release its engagement with the quadrant 5O and allow the lever ill to be rocked for rocking the semaphore arm 1. The quadrant 50 is provided with a plurality of notches 62, one being provided for the neutral position of the semaphore arm, one for positioning of the semaphore arm at a downward incline of substantially 455 degrees, one for holding the semaphore arm in horizontal position, and a fourth one for holding the semaphore arm in upwardly inclining position, which positions are universally mown to represent different directions in which a car is to be moved, and also a suitable notch adapted to receive the dog or pawl 56 to support the semaphore arm in an upright position to indicate that the driver of the vehicle is about to back the same. When the semaphore arm 1 is in neutral position or in other words is hanging downwardly the contact sleeve 20 is in engagement with the strip which prevents the passage of energizing current to the lamp bulbs 10 and 11, however, when the semaphore arm is released into any position above its downwardly extending vertical position the contact 20 will be brought into engagement with the band 33 which will close and excite or energize a circuit through the bulbs 10 and 11 causing them to light so that the light rays therefrom will i i rough the lenses 7 and 8 to clearly indicate the direction in which the arm is extended even at night. A cushion 66 is carried by the head 3 to prevent the marring of the vehicle body and the flexible shaft l? is enclosed in a suitable leather casing 67 to prevent marring of the vehicle body.

lirFigures 8 and 9 a bracket structure 7 0 is shown which is provided tor attachment to a closed body of a motor vehicle such as a sedan, coupe, or the like, the said bracket replacingthe clamp structure 29 and comprising an attaching portion 71 and a carrying arm 72 the outer end of which is flattene to provide an eye 73 which is connected to the bracket 28 by means of the bolt and nut 74 and 75 shown in Fig. l of the drawing.

" the exact direction about to be taken by the preceding vehicle and the signal structure which can be seen both from the front and rear of the vehicle carrying same owing to the provision of the lenses.

It is, of course to be understood that the invention may be constructed in various other manners and the parts associated in different relations and, therefore, I do not desire to be limited in any manner except as set forth in the claim hereunto appended.

Having thus described my invention what- I claim is:

In a trafiic signal, a supporting bracket, a shaft carried by said supporting bracket,

a semaphore arm pivotally supported by said shaft and having electrically operating signalling means carried thereby, a hollow elbow at the inner end of said arm, a supporting sleeve in the outer end of said el bow, an insulating sleeve in said supporting sleeve, an electric terminal in the insulating sleeve, a movable cylinder having contact with the terminal, an insulating sleeve mounted upon said shaft, a contact bandw extending partly around the perimeter of said last insulating sleeve, a metal strip attached to the perimeter of the metal sleeve on the shaft other than the portion enclosed by the contact band, said metal strip and contact band having their ends spaced and a coil spring within the cylinder for urging the same into engagement with the contact band or metal strip.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILLIAM ARTHUR LEE. 

